For many years, it was relatively easy to check television listings within a local newspaper in order to determine which television programs were presently being presented. There were only a few major networks and only large market areas had access to channels other than those that were affiliates of the major networks. Since the number of channels was limited, a viewer without a newspaper could quickly browse the currently available programs by manually or remotely tuning a television through the succession of channels.
The introduction of broadband television has greatly increased the program selection for television viewers. In addition to an increase in the number of major networks, there are special-interest networks, subscription channels that can be accessed for a monthly or yearly fee, and pay per view channels that can be accessed on a program-by-program basis. As a result of the proliferation of available channels, it has become more difficult and time consuming to determine which programs are currently being presented.
Techniques for simplifying the channel selection process are known. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,559,549 to Hendricks et al., a television program delivery system allows viewers to select television programs from a series of menus. The primary components of the system are a main operations center, a digital cable headend, and at least one set top terminal having a remote control. The set top terminal is connected to the television of a viewer. The system uses digital compression techniques to allow a large number of television signals to be transmitted to the set top terminal. A combined signal is transmitted over satellite to the digital cable headend, which may modify the combined signal for changes or additions in programming or menu content. A number of different types of menus may be formed from the information included within the television signals received by the set top terminal of the viewer. A remote control unit having icon buttons allows the viewer to select programs based upon a series of major menus, sub menus, and program menus. Data gathering and analysis techniques may be used to compile programs-watched information that is used in packaging programs, customizing menu selections, targeting advertisements, and maintaining account and billing information. The menus may divide the channels into categories such as sports, movies, children, documentaries, and specialty channels.
Another approach is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,926,230 to Niijima et al. According to this approach, nine reduced screens of different programs are arranged in a three-by-three matrix to construct one multi-screen arrangement for program selection. The screen for program selection is produced by multi-screen production circuits and is encoded by MPEG video encoders. Such screens are multiplexed by a multiplexer, so that they may be transmitted via a single transmission channel. The resultant signal is transmitted to an artificial satellite through a mixer and an antenna. Each multi-screen is received on a reception side from the satellite and is displayed as a three-by-three piece of a screen of full motion. A viewer can determine and directly select a desired program from a preview screen formed from the different reduced screens. Thus, at the broadcasting side of the system, the screens of available channels are multiplexed and then transmitted via a single transmission channel. On the reception side, the screens for program selection are received without the necessity of changeover of a transmission channel, so that a desired program can be selected from the large number of displayed programs. As in Hendricks et al., the Niijima et al. system may arrange available channels on the basis of categories, such as sports and movies.
As a third approach, but one that does not enable program categorization, Kageyama et al. describes a television channel selection apparatus that employs a multi-picture display. In one mode of the apparatus, an array of miniature pictures corresponding to the respective channels is displayed. Other than one channel, the miniature pictures are static. However, each channel is sequentially selected for a predetermined interval during which image data for the selected channel is written into the region of the display that corresponds to the channel. More specifically, the image data for the selected channel is written into the corresponding region of a one-field memory, with the entire memory contents being continuously and repetitively read out. As a consequence, the picture for the selected channel appears as a moving picture, while those pictures of the other channels are static. In the normal operating mode of the apparatus, the channel that is selected at the time of a mode changeover is televised in isolation.
The various approaches facilitate the viewing and selecting of programs from available channels. However, the number of channels that can be simultaneously viewed is limited. Moreover, each approach has its associated shortcoming. For example, in Niijima et al., the various screens must be encoded by MPEG video encoders and multiplexed, with the multiplexed signal requiring transmission via a satellite and requiring processing at each receiving location. For Kageyama et al., the limited amount of processing that is enabled at the receiving end may not provide satisfactory information for some users.
What is needed is a method and system for locally viewing and selecting among currently available commercial broadcasts, with the capability of simultaneous display.